This post was updated March 9 at 10:47 p.m.

Through bench turnover and intense play on both ends, UCLA got revenge against its one loss of the season.

An opportunity to even the season series transpired as No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (18-1, 4-0 MPSF) challenged No. 3 Penn State (15-2, 4-0 EIVA) in Honolulu after a four-set contest resulted in a Nittany Lion triumph just last month. Despite conceding a two-set lead, the Bruins took control of the fifth set to clinch the victory. 

After a gritty first set of repeated back-to-back kills and 17 ties, the Bruins emerged with a two-point lead, the largest by either team, nearing the end of the first frame leading 20-18. 

It was nonstop from there as the blue and gold forced three arrack errors and marshaled two kills, courtesy of senior outside hitter Alex Knight and sophomore outside hitter/opposite Ido David, to propel the Bruins to a four-point margin before pressure on the Nittany Lions impelled a late-set timeout. Following the timeout, an immediate attack error by Penn State’s opposite Cal Fisher secured the Bruins a first-set victory. 

“The first set was about serving,” said coach John Speraw. “They had a bunch of errors. We had a bunch of errors. Playing in a different gym caused quite a bit of errors. We went on one  pretty critical serving run for (redshirt junior middle blocker) Merrick (McHenry) that created a little separation and got us that first set win.”

Fisher led both teams with 15 kills in the last matchup but was held to a negative hitting percentage Thursday, prompting Penn State coach Mark Pavlik to pull him after two errors on five attempts.

“We know that Cal Fisher is their guy and if he was having a night it would be a lot more challenging for us to win,” McHenry said. “We made sure our block was in the right place, we knew what his tendencies are and where he likes to hit. Once we were able to jump on that and slow him down it was super beneficial for us.”

This start proved promising for the Bruins, who had conceded a first-set defeat during their last matchup with the Nittany Lions. 

Nevertheless, the second slate saw the Nittany Lions force four straight errors from the blue and gold as the Bruins replayed their flaws from the two teams’ February matchup. 

But the blue and gold were not going to let this one slip.

Despite a .069 hit percentage in the frame, the Bruins conceded just one point in their final three-point spell to assure victory in the second set. 

“UCLA and everyone on our team are super good about playing one-point volleyball and moving on to the next point,” McHenry said. “In the long haul, it comes to just putting pressure on the team and serving tough, so it doesn’t matter if we aren’t serving our best – we just make sure to keep serving tough and hitting our serve.”

Completing the set with a service ace from freshman setter Andrew Rowan – who notched personal bests of 47 assists and 10 digs on the night – and a final kill by David, UCLA landed a 2-0 lead heading into what could have been the final frame of the game. 

In a mirror to the first set, the third didn’t see either team take more than a three-point lead behind repeated service errors from both sides and effective kills by both teams’ hitters. 

But unlike in the first set, the Nittany Lions found a late breakthrough to administer their game-high lead of six amid back-to-back-to-back UCLA errors. The lead only extended, as Penn State ultimately took a nine-point victory. 

“We didn’t know how to respond to their energy, and we didn’t match it,” David said. “Low energy after the third-set loss stuck with us till the fourth, and we tried to change the energy into motivation and fire, but we were unable to do so.”A match-high 20 kills by David, alongside McHenry’s nine, kept UCLA battling throughout at a .615 clip. McHenry also tallied six digs, a new career high.

“He (McHenry) created so much pressure on opponents. They had to do so much to stop him,” Speraw said. “He’s a great all-around volleyball player, so he can dig and set and do a lot of different things for us, and he came up big when it mattered – he was the difference for us tonight.” 

Throughout three sets of play, Speraw utilized his bench more than he had in recent games, with 10 Bruins taking the court. Pavlik also went to his bench to creep out of holes, with 12 Nittany Lions seeing playing time in the tense matchup.

Service errors dominated the match, with UCLA and Penn State both nearing 20 apiece as the fourth set continued. 

Although UCLA made an effort to tie the match, after Fisher returned to the court, a service ace and kill from the opposite knotted the game at two sets to two. An opportunity for revenge by the blue and gold came down to one last set. 

“We got off to a nice start, but in the middle of the third and fourth set, we didn’t attack in our normal fashion,” Speraw said. “We didn’t hit for a very good number. We weren’t connecting very well. They obviously are a very good team and capitalized on many of our miscues.”

The Bruins’ first set No. 5 of the season saw neither team securing a margin more than one, up until a David kill gave the Bruins a two-point lead and forced a Penn State timeout. Pressure only built after the timeout, as back-to-back Nittany Lions attack errors put the team back at the bench for another intermission. 

Securing his 21st kill, David put the game away for the blue and gold. 

“Towards the end, in the fifth set, I showed I’m in the game. I was on fire, and I was the person to rely on.” David said. 

With heavy defensive play and offensive pressure, Bruins were able to exact revenge on the team that handed them their only loss of the 2023 season.